Trivia / Astalon: Tears of the Earth

• What Could Have Been:
  • The Dimensional Mirror includes a set of alternate designs for each of the three protagonists.
  • From LABS Works' Reddit AMA on r/NintendoSwitch:
    • The first prototype featured only one playable character. This was changed because it made the game feel too similar to Castle in the Darkness.
    • The game was intended to feature a parallel dimension with its own unique mechanics. The developers ultimately nixed this feature in favor of focusing on the main tower.
    • Originally, dying too much would have caused the tower's layout to gradually change, as Epimetheus' powers would have started to warp reality. This was removed because it was too difficult for the small development team to implement, and because it would have resulted in the player's skill having too much impact on the game design.
    • At one point, Matt Kap intended for the player to have the ability to sacrifice characters to a "giant sacrificial blood tree" in exchange for making the remaining party members more powerful. This was shelved for clashing with the game's A World Half Full themes, and because it could make the game unwinnable by taking away the sacrificed character's abilities to get past certain obstacles.